A Worldwide Social Movement -- Originating in New York City in the early 1980's, the Hip Hop revolution brought forth an amazing new artistic movement that has been hugely influential in music, dance, fashion, art, commerce and much more. Spreading rapidly around the US and world, Hip Hop music and its vocal form, Rap music, brought the world a cool new lyrically flowing groove and style that quickly evolved into multiple new sub-genres as its evolution progressed.

Amazing Diversification -- Now with over 40 subgenres, including East Coast, West Coast, Mid-West, Dirty South, Hispanic-influenced Reggaeton, and various foreign-influenced Rap styles, Hip Hop keeps on changing and evolving, integrating traditional music genres and producing new sounds, new styles and amazing new music to inspire the world well into the 21st century and beyond.

East Coast Rap - New York StyleAt the dawn of the Hip Hop era, all Rap was East Coast Rap. All of Rap's most important early artists
were based in the New York City area. With a grooving, poetic lyrical flow, East Coast Hip Hop and Rap
continues to incite and inspire rappers throughout the world.

West Coast Rap - The Rise of Gangsta & G-FunkThe West Coast Rap scene began to emerge in the late 1980's and then dominated much of the Hip Hop
music scene during the 90's. The Gangsta Rap subgenre and P-Funk subgenres dominated radio play and
sales, as such pioneering artists as Snoop Dog, Dr. Dre, and Tupac Shakur rose to prominence.

Pop-RapPop-Rap is a combination of Hip Hop beats and Raps with strong melodic hooks, which are usually
featured as part of the chorus section in a standard pop-song structure. Pop-Rap tends to be less
aggressive and lyrically complex than most street-level Hip Hop, smoother and with more sophisticated
production qualities.

Hip House - Dance Meets Hip HopHip House is a musical genre that mixes elements of various dance styles including House, Disco,
Trance and other dance elements with Hip Hop sounds and rhythms. The style rose to prominence during
the 1980s in New York and Chicago and continues to be an important commercial Hip Hop subgenre today.

Dirty South - The Coolest CrunkThe rise of Dirty South, also known as Southern Rap, or Crunk, came about in the 1990s in the southern
US, in cities such as New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, Nashville, Atlanta, Memphis, Charlotte,
Birmingham, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Jacksonville, Jackson, Baton Rouge and elsewhere.

Midwest Rap and Hip Hop - Rap From the HeartlandMidwest Hip Hop rap is a fast-paced style of rapping that contrasts with its East Coast, West Coast
and Southern counterparts. Its first dose of national popularity in the mid-90s was associated with
fast-paced styles of rappers such as; Twista (Chicago), Tech N9ne (Kansas City, Missouri), Bone Thugs-
n-Harmony (Cleveland), and Atmosphere (Minneapolis).

Latin Rap and Hip HopNote to be outdone, innovative young Latino rappers picked up on the Hip Hop and Rap movement and took
it to a whole new level. Mixing Spanish lyrics and various Latin music subgenres with Afro-American
beats, Latin Rap and other new Hip Hop subgenres were born.

ReggaetonReggaeton is a form of urban music that originated in Panama in the 1990s and became popular with
Latin American youth after its mainstream exposure in 2004 as it spread to North American, European
and Asian audiences. Reggaeton is a cool blend of multiple latin genres and Hip Hop, R&B and
Electronica.

World Hip Hop and RapHip Hop has exploded around the world, into every country and region, as the most significant new
music development since the advent of Rock and Roll two decades before. In many countries it has
matured to levels similar to what is heard in the US, with some cultures echoing developments in the
US while others put their own unique ethnic twist on the music.

Old School Rap - The Original MixOld School Rap is the style of the very first rap artists who emerged in the 1970s and 80s. Old school
is easily identified by its relatively simple raps -- most lines take up approximately equal amounts
of time, and the rhythms of the language rarely twisted around the beats of the song.

Underground Hip HopUnderground Rap is hardcore lyrical Hip Hop that pushes musical boundaries and has lyrics that are
more inventive than gangsta clichés. It has little regard for mainstream conventions, and celebrates
its independent off-the-chain status. With lyrics that are often explicit, this music is not for the
timid or naive.